French fries are known to be greasy, starchy and a comfort food for many, but now reaching for fried foods might have a negative impact on mental health.
A research team in Hangzhou, China, found that taking alot of fried foods, especially fried potatoes, is linked with a 12% more risk of anxiety and 7% greater risk of depression than in people who didn’t eat fried foods, which is more pronounced among young men and younger consumers.
The known risk factors for fried foods are obesity, high blood pressure and other health effects. Results like these “open an avenue in the significance of reducing fried food consumption for mental health,” according to the paper published in the journal PNAS However, nutritionist say the results are preliminary, and it is not necessarily clear whether people experiencing symptoms of depression or anxiety turned to fried foods or the fried foods were driving mental health issues.
The study examined 140,728 people over 11.3 years. After they excluded participants diagnosed with depression within the first two years, a total of 8,294 cases of anxiety and 12,735 cases of depression were found in those that ate fried food, while specifically fried potatoes were found to have a 2% increase in risk of depression over fried white meat.
Not having poor nutrition and consuming unhealthy food can lower one’s mood and progress a mental health condition, as found in a prior study cited within this new one.
Zhejiang University researcher Yu Zhang, an author of the study, told CNN in an email that “there is no need to panic about the adverse effects of fried food.” But maintaining a healthy lifestyle and reducing consumption of fried foods may be helpful for mental health in additional to overall health.
By looking at the effects of fried food consumption in humans the researchers had compared the two to suggest that frequent consumption of the chemical commonly found in fried food could have a negative effect on mental health.
